In 58 posts with close to 100k words, we shared a lot in 2024! Explore 2024’s biggest geopolitical shifts, cultural battles, and bold insights with Drishtikone’s year in review. See you in 2025! Happy New Year! Be safe!
When you see Russia get into existential war over Ukraine, or Israel bomb Syria or India battle with Pakistan or Bangladesh, it is not because of some whim. It has a historical and geographical context. That is critical to understand for analyzing geopolitics.
Aurat March is a is a women empowerment movement that has started in Pakistan where women are asking for economic justice, reproductive justice, right to their cities, villages and towns, and environmental justice. The women are not just doing peace rallies, or demonstrating with some placards or sloganeering for women equality but making it a mass movement. In a patriarchal society that Pakistan is, this movement was long overdue.
The movement organizers are working in large cities with Urban population as well as with the rural population on different dimensions of women empowerment.
It has also become a lightning rod for honoring women in the society who have given a lot and those who have been subjected to crimes – of state and other actors.
This letter (in the tweet) shares the aim and objectives of the Aurat March 2019 as well as the challenges they are facing.
And the Religious mind in Pakistan thinks?
Deobandi cleric Maulana Dr Manzoor Ahmed Mengal’s Friday sermon in Jamia Siddiqia Karachi where he is pissed off with the women saying that their body is theirs and so what they do is their right. What they were saying is that no man can simply force himself on them – whether it is about sex or giving birth.
And how he interpreted as his sorry small male ego got hurt with women announcing If loose women at #AuratMarch2019 say “My body my choice”, then men can say the same and rape any woman. We won’t allow such women to have incestuous & extra-marital relationships.
Look at the vile delight that this guy has when he portrays these women ONLY in terms of how he thinks they may be having sex. To even listen to this guy is revolting for any normal person. But this happens to be a masjid and he happens to be one of the more popular orator.
How many Muslim men report this when they hear all this crap in their religious places?
But the women there are responding to such sick minds with their own chutzpah!
Intellectuals in Pakistan are asking - why is Pakistani society where it is today. It did not happen in a day. The Crimes and the depravity was always present. You acquiesced to it all along.
The story of how Pakistan got its nuclear arsenal is bizarre. Powerful politicians made decisions that will one day jeopardize this planet. For, unbridled power has been handed to ideological extremists. A detailed expose.
Bilawal Bhutto, the scion of genocide backing and a corruption-ridden family, openly abused and threatened India's elected government functionaries in the UN.
Words won't work here. Action will.
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